Where to live in retirement

It’s never too early to start thinking about retirement and deciding where to live is a crucial part of the puzzle.

Arthur Case, chief executive officer of Evergreen Retirement Holdings, and an expert in retirement accommodation, has this advice for choosing the right place to stay in later life:

1. When to move

Don’t wait until circumstances force you to downsize or to move out of your existing home. If you leave the decision too long, you could be left with limited options. If you move earlier in life, you can select the retirement accommodation of your choice and structure your finances accordingly.

2. Quality of life

You don’t have to compromise on quality of life in your later years. Surround yourself with dynamic, active and engaged people for a happy and healthy life in retirement. Traditional old-age homes are run on nursing-based principles. A more recent trend is for retirement accommodation based on resort-style facilities.

3. Healthcare

In many countries across the globe, people are living longer and South Africa is no exception. This comes with rising healthcare costs over time. So you should consider what type of healthcare is offered in the various retirement accommodation places you’re considering. The Evergreen Lifestyle model is built on a philosophy of offering homebased care for as long as possible, which is hugely beneficial to patients’ overall well-being because they remain within the familiar surroundings of their own home.

4. What happens when a partner passes away?

If you’re married, you should consider what life will be like when one of you passes on. In addition to the risk of isolation, you could be left with a house that feels too large and cumbersome, with spiralling costs for things like maintenance and repairs, rates and taxes, safety and security, and gardening. Moving to a retirement village is a good way of dealing with loneliness because you’re surrounded by a community of like-minded people and you do not have to worry about things like maintenance, gardening and security.

5. Financial security

The Life Right model is one way of mitigating against financial insecurity in retirement. This purchase model is gaining traction because it relieves you of the burden of care for the property because that rests with the developer, who remains the legal owner. The purchaser buys the right to occupy the property for the remainder of their lifetime. Evergreen Lifestyle retirement villages run on the Life Right model.